I haven't seen all of John Waters' films, but yes, his early efforts were rather depraved. However, all his films carry some element of satire and social commentary, however depraved they are.

For instance, the triva from Hairspray reveals that part of the inspiration for the plot line stems from the state of race relations in Baltimore, Maryland, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in particular the thwarted effort to integrate a popular local TV show, the Buddy Dean Show, hosted by the late Buddy Dean.

Cry-Baby was another spoof, this time of the clash between the "squares" and the "greasers" (or "drapes" as they were called in Baltimore at that time).

Serial Mom follows a suburban mother who does whatever she feels is necesary to safeguard her family and good manners/good taste (Note to Juror #8: Don't wear white after Labor Day! ). There's also a commentary on the death penalty:

Father Boyce: Jesus said nothing to condemn capital punishment as he hung on the cross, did he? Congregation: No. Father Boyce: If ever there was a time to go on record against the death penalty, wasn't it that night? Capital punishment is already the law in the state of Maryland. So what are we waiting for, fellow Christians? Let's just do it. Congregation: Amen.

(Careful, some of the other quotes are X-, or at least R-, rated.)

Pecker (The young man is called "Pecker" because he pecks at his food like a bird.) satirizes the artsy-fartsy New York City art world. Or, as one reviewer wrote:

Due to some great casting choices, this film really brought out the silliness associated with modern art and the subjective nature of your modern artist.

In fact, I just rented a movie with Tracey Ullman in it, whom I consider to be THE most talented comedienne and character actress of all time . . .

Yes, a VERY funny and talented person . . .

but when I started to play it, I saw that it was "Directed by John Waters" and my heart sank.

I watched the movie hoping to glean a bit of Tracey's genius, but quickly realized that I had a great knot in my stomach, on the edge of nausea, and that it was just a matter of time before I exposed myself to an image that would keep me vomiting for many days or years to come.

There is nothing funny or interesting about Divine, and John Waters is a sick pathetic person.

Tracey Ullman blends the perfect amount of seriousness and insanity playing her Sylvia Stickles, the woman who comes alive as she is hit in the head! Her scene at the nursing home playing the Hokey Pokey will become a classic Waters moment.

And we will root out every terrorist from every terrorist nation, be they communist, socialist or Islamofascist. And if the ideology of a socialist peace gets in the way of understanding that, join the Islamists for all I care!

...

"No human thing is of serious importance."

A rather odd pair, Apo, to come from the same source (even if, in the latter case, derived)....

Henri

PS : As for my humble person, to paraphrase Groucho Marx (one of my cultural heroes), I am as likely to join a fundamentalist organisation, whether Islamistic, Christian, Jewish, Hinduistic, Buddhistic, or whatever, as such an organisation would be to accept me as proselyte....

PS : As for my humble person, to paraphrase Groucho Marx (one of my cultural heroes), I am as likely to join a fundamentalist organisation, whether Islamistic, Christian, Jewish, Hinduistic, Buddhistic, or whatever, as such an organisation would be to accept me as proselyte....

you'de be surprised at least one of those would indeed welcome you with open arms.

I have used the quote from Plato (via Socrates) because I found it so shocking and incomprehensible. I am still trying to understand it.

But if it is true, in some universal sense, then caring about something or not caring about something, just as doing something and not doing something, are of equal value, i.e. none! And in this there is a sort of freedom. The freedom to act or not act according to one's conscience and the bravery to overcome the smuthering futility of materialism.

The whole sentense reads:

The law would say that to be patient under suffering is best, and that we should not give way to impatience, as there is no knowing whether such things are good or evil; and nothing is gained by impatience; also, because no human thing is of serious importance, and grief stands in the way of that which at the moment is most required.

Of course, this isn't much sense either. Socrates' (via Plato) arguments are seamless, often from the beginning of a book to the end, and very hard to divide up and still make sense of.

Another interesting part:

And does not the same hold also of the ridiculous? There are jests which you would be ashamed to make yourself, and yet on the comic stage, or indeed in private, when you hear them, you are greatly amused by them, and are not at all disgusted at their unseemliness

Sitran

'Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.' -Max Planck